10 Mar 2016

Strong winds knock down trees near Ashburton

5:13 pm on 10 March 2016

Metservice has released severe weather warnings for Southland, the Fiordland Lakes, Otago, Canterbury, Marlborough Sounds, Wellington and Wairarapa.

It says gusts of 120-kilometres an hour are expected, with the possibility of them reaching 160kmh in inland Otago and the Canterbury High Country.

The Fire Service said trees have been knocked down and small vegetation fires have broken out near Ashburton.